Liam Keane

Liam Keane (1807-) was an Irish theatrical impresario who led a travelling show through the American West during the 1870s. His main act was originally the armless and legless English tragedian and comedian Edwin Horatio Harrison, whom he shared food with while going from town to town. However, as Harrison became less productive, Keane began to hesitate giving him food, and, after noticing the success of the mathematical animal act of Gallus Mathematicus, Keane purchased the chicken and decided to purchase feed for the chicken instead of food for harrison. In 1873, he took his wagon, "Thalia's Sedan", to a riverbank and threw a rock in the river to gauge its deepness. Satisfied with the sinking of the rock, Keane returned to the cart, lifted up Harrison, and threw him to his death in the river below.